The Vikings lost this week 28-18 at New England. They out-gained the Patriots in total yards, they had less penalties, they had more first downs, and they basically dominated the time of possession. Typically these things result in wins, but not on the road with terrible coaching decisions against good football teams.
While the Vikings showed glimpses of pressure on Sunday, they were never able to get to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. They also were not able to stop Patriots running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who torched the Vikings for 112 yards, 62 of which came on the Patriots backbreaking drive that gave them a 10 point lead with 2 minutes to play. Thats correct, a running back that many of you probably haven't heard of, ran for 112 yards against the vaunted Vikings run defense. Over half of the yards came when the defense should have known they were going to run the ball. Missed tackles all over the place.
The Patriots converted three huge third downs on the last drive, something that is not acceptable for the football team we are claiming to be. The Vikings had all the momentum after we pulled within 3 points with nearly 8 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. The defense needed to make one stop, to get our offense the ball, and let them win the game. The defense decided not to rally. In fact we let the Patriots run all over us for an 80 yard touchdown drive in 5:30 minutes. Nice. Way to step up.
If it isn't one thing, it's the other. The Vikings aren't playing as a team, they aren't meshing, and they aren't going to play any more than 16 games this season. It's embarrassing that a team with this much talent, is playing the way it is. In my opinion, a huge part of that, is coaching. Brad Childress has more talent than he knows what to do with. Offensively he can't think, at all. We should be scoring more points than we are, we should be running screens, sweeps, slants, deep balls, anything, for the love of god. It might be time to bring someone else in, and I mean now, maybe it will provide a spark.
Randy Moss, nice to wave at you as you passed by. I don't blame you one bit. You had 13 receptions in 4 games, that is embarrassing. We didn't throw the ball to you, at all. Don't give me BS statements that safeties were always rolled over to him and he was double and triple covered. Do you not think he has faced that his entire career????? You game-plan for that, and honestly, you still throw the ball to him, he can make it happen. Why bring him in if you aren't going to use him? A decoy? Please, teams that have 2 wins in 7 games don't need decoys, they need players who make plays, and they had that with Moss, and didn't use it.
Adrian, you are ridiculous. I wish we used you more, at times it seems like you can't be stopped. Typically that's when we throw passes to Bernard Berrian or bring in Toby Gerhart to pound out a yard. Nice calls Childress, you idiot. I've never really liked Childress, but I've been accepting enough to not demand another coach. I'm getting to the breaking point.
For those of you wondering what we do now, we hope. There isn't much more you can do. It's a long shot, but if we figure it out soon, and by that I mean this week, we could still win our division. We are 2 games back of the Packers in the loss column and still have a game against them this year. We need to win the next 5 games in my opinion. No questions asked. Win 5 in a row, against teams we can beat, and then see where we are at. I firmly believe if we lose another game in the next 5, we are done. RIP 2010 Vikings if they don't start it up now. The backs are against the wall, lets see how they react.
Arizona comes to town this weekend, thats a team we should beat by at least 14 points, game in hand the whole second half. I'm sure we will scheme to their level, and end biting our nails until the very end. I'll take the Vikings 20 to 17 this week, and I don't even feel good about it.
Good analysis. I keep reverting to what the hell has changed? We lost 1 player on offense, and another to injury. Other than that, we are a team that is one year wiser, and have a healthy E.J. on the other side of the line. Where are the differences? In my mind, the only solution is coaching. Last year we somehow put together a team despite the coaching, and this year we are getting destroyed because of a failure to gel. If our defense is holding strong, our offense is stumbling. When out offense is firing on all cylinders, our defense gives up big plays. I'm at my wits end with this team. These are coaching errors for the most part.
ReplyDeleteWhen we picked up moss, we were 1-2. We needed a spark. We all thought he was that spark. Here we sit 4 weeks later going 1-3, (barely against a severely struggling dallas) and now we are sitting at 2-5. This is a at least 6-1 talent team with a 2-5 record. It is just disgusting.
What we know is that leslie is being looked at for several head coaching positions. What we NEED to do is lock him into our head coaching position. Look at our past defensive coordinators and their records in the years directly after leaving us. WE NEED TO HAVE LESLIE AS OUR HEAD COACH. Do it now. Kick childress our tomorrow, and let leslie put together the gameplan again arizona. We need a spark, and this would sure add some electricity. At worse what happens, we lose and have 0 chance versus a very slim chance at making the postseason? I say give the man control of the team. We need to make the change, and honestly, either way, it will happen at the end of this year regardless. He's doing nothing with the abundance of talent that we have.